The Mapo Bridge in South Korea Discourages Suicide With Image and Sound

South Korea's Mapo Bridge has a big problem. Since South Korea has the highest suicide rates among first world nations, the Seoul-River traversing bridge has far too many stories of people ending their lives over the edge of the bridge.

Samsung Life Insurance and Cheil Worldwide have teamed up to turn the Mapo Bridge into an encouraging marriage of sight and sound in order to encourage those thinking of ending it all from reconsidering. It's no small project as 108 suicide attempts have been made on the Mapo Bridge in the last five years alone. The calming effect is accomplished with motion sensors that spit out encouraging messages, peaceful and positive images, and even jokes as pedestrians cross the busy bridge in near Seoul's financial district. The messages were conceived in collaboration with psychologists and suicide preventions specialists.